Both issues were raised at the Branch AGM today, so please forgive me for going on
Club Communication
I regularly receive email communication from the Ulysses Club National Administration Office regarding both road safety and assorted Club matters. These are informative and routinely sent to financial members provided the administration office has your current email address. If you’re not receiving them, check that you’re actually still a financial member (still great value in my opinion) and then that the club has your current email address.
Road Safety
I will start by saying that courtesy and patience go a long way and admit that I failed that as recently as Friday when I angrily abused another driver. Getting angry generally makes us less safe and I shouldn’t have done it.
We mature people tend to go on about the “Young” and the risks they take, but the simple fact is that of the 45 people who have died in 2025 while using Victorian roads, only three were aged under 30. At least 13 people using motorcycles have died while using Victorian roads in the past 2 months. We “mature riders” are way overrepresented in the road death and injury statistics.
I believe we need to accept much more responsibility for our own safety and become less judgemental and opinionated while blaming everyone and everything else for all the tragic trauma that is occurring on our roads right now.
We can go on about poor road design and maintenance,
but I contend that the vast majority of collisions are caused by the “nut” holding the handlebars or steering wheel. Our conduct is something we can address individually.
In my opinion riding / driving whilst impaired (by alcohol, anger, drugs – licit and illicit, fatigue, ill health and a willingness to take risks) is the biggest contributor to road trauma.
Many people underestimate simple things like fatigue and deteriorating health when assessing our fitness to ride/drive.
Yes, ineptitude does contribute on occasions, but I doubt it is the major factor.
Despite that, I’d like to remind members that the Ulysses Club subsidises both rider and first aid training. Please consider it. None of us are perfect, we can develop bad habits and can make mistakes on the road – I made an embarrassing one in December and fortunately no one was hurt. Over the years I have done additional training for heavy vehicles and several motorcycle courses well after getting my licence. I’d recommend doing some additional training, particularly if you never have, as it is both fun and can make you better and safer on the roads.
Apologies for going on, but I still love riding after 55 years of doing it very regularly, but safety is a serious concern and I’m very aware that we “mature” road users need to be honest with ourselves. We can make a much bigger difference to our own safety by accepting responsibility now, rather than waiting for engineers to fix the roads years down the track.
Enjoy the ride and take care out there.
John Cook